Outrageously Giddy

Ace and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this month!

Ace was great and planned a little 24 hr getaway to Pagosa Springs. We stayed in this rustic little cabin and sat around a campfire. Simple, but so fun. Actually I think it may have been my favorite anniversary celebration yet.

The above picture was one of the very first pictures Ace and I took together back in June of 2005. I was just so happy to be near this boy let alone have him wrap his arm around me. I had never been so outrageously giddy about a boy in my life (and lucky for me I never was again).

 I remember my problem during the dating years is that I would always imagine up all these really great, really romantic scenarios. But when it came to real life dating I got way more butterflies sitting at home in my pajamas watching a chick flick then I ever did on any real date. But wonderful Ace changed all that. I called my mom back in March 2005, when Ace and I first started hanging out, and I just gushed. She told me she had never heard me talk like this about a boy before and she was happy for me because I was finally REALLY excited about a boy. I remember hanging out ALL day and then being so sad when we had to go our separate ways for a few hours at night. I just loved being with him and that feeling has never changed. 

When I flew down to Florida to see Ace in June after only having known each other for a few months I thought I was crazy. I had always played very uninterested and hard to get during my dating years but now I was flying across the country. I was crazy! Plus we hadn't even kissed yet. Everyone kept telling me if he didn't kiss me after flying all that way then he wasn't interested. But lucky for me he did kiss me. However, it was very unlucky for him.

I hadn't kissed a boy in YEARS so I was crazy nervous. Im pretty sure I bit his tongue....but honestly that's his bad because who goes in for that kind of kiss on the very first kiss. Anyway, I remember calling my mom almost in tears the next day because I liked him so much but I was sure he wouldn't want to see me again after this trip because I was an AWFUL kisser. My mom just told me to relax and enjoy it and she was sure I would get better quickly. 

I don't know if I really got better but I stopped caring and forced my kisses on that boy from sun-up to sun-down.

 It really was just a crazy, exciting, unpredictable romance and I feel so lucky to be able to look back and say, "This is our story."

It is not a story with only ups. We definitely had our hard times. But most the time our struggles came from always having to say good-bye. We spent from June 2005-January 2008 working through a long distance relationship. No fun! But again when we were together it was the greatest minutes, hours, days and weeks of my life, so I was full of happy memories to get me to our next visit. 

We tried to make the long distance thing as bearable as possible by dating other people when we were apart. But every date, every kiss, every other boy just left me aching for a certain someone in Florida. We tried being exclusive as well to see if that would ease the pain while we were apart, but this too was difficult and led to a few break ups. They only lasted for a 24 hour period before I would call Ace and tell him to ask me to be his girlfriend again. 

This time of separation was an insanely confusing time for both of us. But when we managed to fly to the other person and spend a week or so together everything felt so right and just the way it should be.  

(The above picture is our first and so far only Jags game together. I love the picture bomber in this one)

 May 7, 2007 Ace told me he loved me, OUT LOUD! He had skirted around the idea a few times. He had even said it in a letter, but he was pretty nervous to tell me this because I had never told any other boy "I Love You" and I had told him on several different occasions that I only wanted to say it to one boy. That would be the boy I married. 

I was visiting him in Florida and one Monday evening after FHE he told me he wanted to talk to me about something so he wanted to take me for a ride. I excused myself to the bathroom before leaving and said a little prayer. I felt like he might say those three little words and I was nervous. I cared so deeply about him and this was something I had never felt before but was it love? I prayed that if he did say it I wouldn't freak-out. I prayed that I would be able to better understand my feelings and that I would be able to express them honestly without hurting Ace in anyway.

Ace took me to a beautiful dock next to his friend Andrea's Catholic Church. He was really quiet for a long time and then he finally said "I don't know where things are going and I don't know what our plans should be but, I love you."

Instead of being freaked out I was so happy and so excited and everything about him and this moment felt so right.

I whispered in his ear, "I think I might be falling in love with you."

I think he was pretty shocked to have me actually say those words.....and maybe a little worried since I had some pretty big plans for whomever I said I love you to.

But like Ace had said we didn't know what our plans were or what they should be. So we still had some moments of heartache, BUT we both knew we wanted to end up eternally together.

 In January 2008, Ace moved out to Utah and we were FINALLY living in the same city! I was nervous about getting too ahead of ourselves. We were great at having a fling a few times a year, but when it came to day-to-day stuff would we struggle, find each other boring, fight?

We were even better than ever! All the stress and pain that came from a long distance relationship was gone and we were AMAZING together. However, I still told Ace that we had plenty of time to just be and let things sink in.There was no reason to take the next BIG step in our relationship until we really needed it and wanted it to happen.

Ace agreed and said "Ok. But I really just need you to be the one to have my babies."

Well, I think that little comment made us both `needing and wanting it sooner than we had planned because the very next month Ace asked my dad if he could marry me.

 August 2, 2008 was a completely perfect day. I wouldn't have changed anything about that day. Not one thing.

 Sometimes I try to write a list of the reasons why I love Ace so much but it is just too hard. I love so much about him that it would be much easier to make a list of things I didn't love about him.

I don't love how he sits on his side of the bed and puts his socks on when I am still in bed trying to sleep. We have a window seat and a chair in our room, my dear. Use either! Well that takes care of that list.

See, if you don't know Ace then you are truly missing out. He is such a optimistic, smart, loving, funny, spiritual guy. He makes every day of my life exciting and new. I find I don't spend a lot of time with just girlfriends because you can bet that if they have something planned for the weekend I won't be there. I'll be with my honey, sometimes doing absolutely nothing, but that is where I'm happiest. He's my very best friend.

5 years and two little boys later, Ace is still my everything and still makes me OUTRAGEOUSLY giddy.

Garret Says the Darnedest Things

Garret LOVES to ride the Ferris Wheel. His first time was only a month or so ago, but now he just can't get enough of it. And he is totally fearless when he is on it. He tries to squirm out of the seat so he can see behind him. Riding with him always makes me a little more fearful.

Lately Garret has been saying the craziest things. I honestly don't know where he gets half of it. Here are just a few of the funny things Garret has been saying.

-Garret has starting rubbing his chin like he is really thinking about something and then excitedly exclaims "I have idea!" When we ask him what his idea is he proudly announces "Snake." (I don't think we understand the concept of what an idea is yet-_-)
-The other day Garret and Reid were taking a bath and Reid was kicking his legs like crazy and accidentally kicked the cup our of Garret's hand and Garret said, "Reid! Are you serious?"
-One Saturday Ace and I were telling Garret that in 5 more minutes it was nap time. He defiantly told us "No way! There is no way I take a nap!"
-A few nights ago Ace put Garret to bed and then went down stairs to unwind and watch a movie. Garret got out of his bed and came to the top of the stairs saying "Dad. It too loud." Ace paused his movie to ask Garret what was wrong and Garret just said "Thank you!" and went back to his room.
-Lately Garret goes around the house saying "You wanna piece of me?!"
-A few weeks Ace and I were talking about how his hair was getting a little shabby and how he needed a haircut pretty soon. Garret must have heard because later that day were were traveling in the car and Ace was bugging Garret by singing (for some reason Garret doesn't really allow anyone to sing in his presence). Garret shouted "No thank you dad! Get you haircut!"
-When we do something Garret appreciates he has started telling us "You best!"
-One time when we were playing in the river Garret kept trying to get me to get in. I told him it was way too cold for me. He responded with "It's not cold. It's warm and comfy."
-Garret loves to go to the library for story time. However, he does not enjoy singing time and always tells me "Mama, no knees and toesies.(Head and Shoulders)
-Last night while I was putting Reid down Ace was trying to get Garret ready for bed. He told Garret it was time to settle down for bed and Garret lost it. Ace picked him up and tried to sweetly console him but Garret between sobs told Ace, "Dad, we can't be friends anymore."
-Whenever I put Garret in time-out. He pokes his head out when he has calmed down and says "Mama, you wanna be friends?"

He really is just the coolest, funniest, most stubborn kid I've met and I wouldn't change one thing about him. I love hanging out with him. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and Im so excited that I get to be him Mama.

Mr. Reid

     I remember being worried about Reid before he was even born. I worried that he would get overlooked, neglected. How could the second child get as much of my love and attention as the first child? How could anything he did feel new and exciting? I felt kind of sad for this little boy who would come into a family with a pretty awesome toddler and big baby shoes to fill.

     Well Reid came into this world to teach me more about our Heavenly Father. Reid once again taught me about the pre-existence and how we all lived there before with our own unique personalities and Reid showed me that we all have something new and exciting to give.

     This little Mr. of ours cannot be overlooked because he is so new to us. Garret was such a lazy baby. We loved watching him just lay there and smile, and he would do that most of the day. We use to call him our little baby Buddha. Reid we affectionately call little baby Rattlesnake. He definitely has the Beck temper. He LOVES attention and when you aren't giving him what he wants he has so many sounds at so many different pitches and volumes to let you know he is please or not well please at all.

    He is just so different from Garret. He is SO expressive. His noises have so much variety and his little facials can tell a story all on their own. He frustrates us and then in seconds melts our hearts with his sweetness. We feel like we are brand new parents. We feel like Garret taught us nothing and we are learning all new lessons with Reid.

     Reid my sweet boy, you are one in a million! There has never been another one like you and there never will be. 

CAMPING

    Garret had his very first camping experience this month and it was all planned out by his fun cousin Brock. Brock stayed the night at our house and decided he really wanted to sleep outside in a tent so while Garret napped Brock wrote Uncle Ace a note asking him to please sleep outside in the tent with the boys. Ace had had a really busy work week so I thought he might not want to sleep on the hard ground. I tried to tell Brock it might not happen and that they could camp in the living room.; but that just wasn't good enough. He told me, " I think Uncle Ace will say yes, 'cause he is pretty nice."

      Ace really is nice! So when he got home and found Brock's note he was actually really excited about the idea and told Brock that camping just isn't camping without s'mores. However, Colorado is burning up....again. So fires are a no go. Inside s'mores aren't quite the same as over a campfire outside but it worked. This was another first for Garret.

     After dinner and s'mores the boys pitched the tent, grabbed a bag full of books, bundled up for a cold night and headed out to their man cave.

   I was very surprised when I woke up around 6am to feed Reid and there were not other boys in the house. These crazy boys made it all night in the night....I was very impressed. I remember trying to sleep outside as a kid and never being able to make it past 4am; it just got too cold. But they three amigos came inside a little before 7 excited to share their stories of camping outside and even more excited for a warm breakfast.

Brothers

I'm glad they'll always have each other.

HEMANgioma

Reid is a HEMAN!

He has an awful time with his stomach and the Beck Temper comes out in full, but somehow he still finds time to smile at me several hundred times a day....even in the midst of a battle with the ol' bowels.

He doesn't even blink when Garret bounces around him and occasionally on him.

He bathes with his older brother which basically means he is also learning to swim long before all of his friends.
He just turned three months yesterday and has already been clear across the country to Florida and taken a 9+ hour roadtrip to Texas.
He is strong, and brave and has a love for adventure (especially the types of adventures where he stays nestled in his mother's arms).

See what I mean? Reid is a HEMAN!

Well, like all other superheroes this Heman has an Achilles' heel.
Besides his Hulk-like temper, Reid has a HEMANgioma (found in 10% of infants and 100% of Hemans)
Hemangiomas are basically benign tumors that show up in some infants, grow fairly rapidly in the first year and then slowly go away within the next few years of the child's life.
Not usually a big deal.
But Reid's hemangioma causes a bit of a problem because of its location.
Reid's hemangioma showed up as a small bruise under his right eye at about 1 month old, but the bruise look never really changed or went away. At his two month check-up I brought it up and they sent me to the dermatologist in Durango, who then sent us to the pediatric dermatologist in Albuquerque.
After two trips to Albuquerque, one MRI and one EKG, we discovered that our sweet little Heman's hemangioma is going to have to be taken care of.
Luckily we found it early enough and  live in an awesome time of modern medicine so Reid will need to just take some medicine twice a day for 6-9 months and this Heman will be hemangioma free and his superhero vision will stay intact.

(if you look closely you can see the bump under his right eye)

(our little Heman trying to hold really still for the EKG)

(a few tears were shed by both mom and Heman)

We are so very grateful for answered prayers and the love and support of so many people.

Our little Heman has a divine mission on this earth and not even a hemangioma can keep this superhero down.

Phone Pics From Florida

Sometimes we take pictures with our phones and then forget ALL about them. So here are few more gems from our March 2013 trip to Florida.

 Small airports are the best! We flew out of the Durango airport and the Pilots brought Gar to the Cockpit and let him push all kinds of buttons and take pictures. Greatest day of his life.....if he even remembered it.

 Loves all things that move.

 Torturing Brody by not letting him in his kennel. Have you ever heard of the term Cruel and unusual punishment?

 First time shooting an airsoft gun...for both of us. We never hit the target.

Garret and his amazing G'ma. She gives and gives and gives to this little boy, his brother, their cousin and all of us rotten kids who call her mom or mother-in-law.

Love and miss you Christine!